Turkey’s Erdogan to visit Serbia on October 10

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Belgrade on October 10 – the date was agreed on during his meeting in New York with Aleksandar Vucic.

The Serbian president emphasized that this will be a confirmation of “the great friendship of the two nations” and expressed “gratitude to Turkish companies that invested in the most undeveloped places in Serbia.”

“Our country nurtures a genuine friendship toward the Turkish people, and today we have the opportunity to start a new process in our relations,” he said, according to a statement from the presidential press office, quoted by Tanjug.

According to the same source, Erdogan “stressed that relations between Serbia and Turkey are very important for peace and stability of the Balkans.”

“Serbia is the key country in the Balkans to preserve peace and stability, and that is why we have always supported your European path,” the Turkish president said.

He pointed out that it was necessary to work on “strengthening economic relations and trade exchange, which amounted to about USD 800 million in 2016, and in the first six months of 2017, USD 539 million.”

“The common goal should be one billion dollars and I support our investors in investing more in Serbia,” concluded Erdogan, adding that during his visit, “a free trade agreement between the two countries should be signed.”

The two interlocutors also “agreed that tourism is a very important segment in the development of economic relations and that it is necessary to work on increasing the number of tourists in both countries.”

They also spoke about infrastructure projects that the Turkish side is interested in, such as the Kraljevo airport, the road Tutin-Novi Pazar-Sjenica and the Belgrade-Sarajevo highway.